Method of producing weatherproof insulating panels



Oct. 30, 1962 D. MaQDONALD 3,051,502

METHOD OF PRODUCING WEATHERPROOF INSULATING PANELS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27, 1959 IN V EN TOR. DONALD Mafia/m0 I ATTOP/VE vs Oct. 30, 1962 D. MacDONALD METHOD OF PRODUCING WEATHERPROOF INSULATING PANELS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27, 1959 INVENTOR. Dow/.0 Macflomw I BY I QAMAA Arman-vs Oct. 30, 1962 n. MacDONALD 3,051,502

METHOD OF PRODUCING WEATHERPROOF INSULATING PANELS Filed Feb. 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. 00mm MMDONALD lIlIllll .IllllllL v lliIllll lllll II ATTORNEYS United States Patent METHOD OF PRODUCING WEATHERPROUF INSULATING PANELS Donald MacDonald, Los Altos, Calif, assignor to Owens- Corning Fiberglas Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 795,966 2 Claims. (Cl. 156-256) This invention relates to glass fiber boards and especially to an insulating member provided with a waterproofing face comprising a glass laminate.

Glass fiber products have been used formerly as roofing materials, for instance, bonded fiber mats have been rolled over existing roofs and coated with asphalt or similar waterproofing materials. Also roof decks of glass fiber boards combined with asphalt or other waterproofing materials have been used. There is a real need for an improved insulating board having better Weatherproofing properties than presently available; although various attempts to improve weatherproofing properties have been made, no answer to this problem of how to extend the life of a roof has been suggested.

It is an object of this invention to provide a combined insulating and weatherproofing board.

' It is an object to provide an improved insulated, roofing board.

It is an object to provide an improved process for manufacturing boards suitable for insulating and weatherproofing structures.

It is a further object to provide improved roofing boards readily combinable into an integral roof.

It is also an object to provide roofing boards that can be easily applied at low cost to provide a roof having extended life.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, reference being made to the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevationalview of equipment used to prepare a glass fabric utilized in the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the calendering operation carried out to prepare a glass fabric facing;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic view of the calendering operation;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing the fabric after it is laminated with a layer of an elastomeric substance;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view of apparatus used to combine fibrous glass base material with the glass fabric facing to form the final product;

FIGURE 6 is a view taken on line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view of another form of equipment used in combining glass fiber board and glass fabric to produce a final product;

FIGURE 8 is a view of the final product produced with the equipment of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 depicts a typical installation utilizing the product shown in FIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a roof installation.

In FIGURE 1 the apparatus comprises a let-off stand 10 suitable for holding a roll 11 of glass fabric, idler rolls 12, 12, an immersion roll 13, tank 14, a saturating fluid 15, four-roll calender 16, hopper 17 having a vibrator 18, table 19 and roll-up device 20. The calender, also shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, comprises four rolls which are arranged in the conventional manner to sheet-out an elastomeric material prior to laminating the sheet of elastomer with another material such as glass fabric.

3,061,502 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 The above ingredients are mixed in a Banbury at from 300 to 400 F. The Agerite powder (phenyl-beta-naphthylamine) is a Well-known and commonly used antioxidant. After mixing the rubber composition is introduced between the top rolls of the calender 16, see FIG- URE 1.

In operating the apparatus shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, glass fabric 21 is advanced through a saturating fluid 15 and after air drying or passage through a drying oven (not shown), the fabric 21 passes through the two lowermost rolls of the calender 16 whereupon the fabric is coated with a layer of rubber 22. A suitable material 23, such as roofing granules, mica, metal flake or glass flakes, is applied by the hopper 17 to the surface of the rubber as it passes over table 19. The fabric reinforced rubber sheet 24 cannot be separated as shown in FIGURE 4; this view is presented, however, to show that the product at this stage comprises two components, (1) rubber and (2) glass fabric.

In FIGURE 5 a phenolic bonded glass fiber board 25 produced by a steam blowing process such as that disclosed in US. Patent 2,206,058, and having a density of from about 3 to about 12 pounds per cubic foot is advanced upon conveyor 26 while it is sprayed with a solvent solution of a rubber such as polyisobutylene from nozzles 27, 27. The glass fiber board may be produced by any suitable fiber forming process including the steam blowing process, rotary fiber forming process, burnerblown process, or any other conventional process. Although the fiber forming process is not a part of the present invention, it is very advantageous to place the production equipment shown in FIGURE 5 at the end of the fiber forming apparatus so that the glass fiber board being produced is fed directly into the equipment shown in FIGURE 5 to avert the need of warehousing or palletizing the board. The glass fiber board is directed through oven 28 to remove solvent and dry the sprayed rubber on the board surface. Conveyor 29 then advances the board between driven rolls 30, 31 and the rubber-faced glass fabric 24 produced in the calendering operation (FIGURES 1, 2 and 3) is combined with the glass fiber board. Rubber-faced glass fabric 24 is directed onto the treated surface of the glass fiber board 25 and is adhered thereto by the action of rolls 30, 31. Slitter 33 in conjunction with the grooved roll 34 slits the board and fabric, see FIGURE 6.

Immediately after slitting, glass flake 35, a flameproofing pigment, or another suitable material such as roofing granules is sprinkled upon the surface of the board by the action of hopper 36 and vibrator 37. Conveyor 38 advances the slit board into chopping device 39 which cuts the board into the desired lengths. Chopped boards 40 advance over rollers 41, 41 and are stacked upon pallet 42.

In most installations it is desirable to have boards with a flap at one or more edges, which flaps facilitate installation of the boards either on a roof or a tank covering. In FIGURE 7 a modified production line is shown which produces a board having suitable flaps of reinforced rubber sheet that extend out beyond the board. Conveyor belt 43, spray nozzles 44 and air drying oven 45 are identical with the equipment shown in FIGURE 5. Chopper 46 is disposed at the exit end of the drying oven and produces boards of suitable length which are advanced on conveyor 47 which is provided with lugs 48, 48. Lugs 48, 48 space the boards prior to advancement between driven rolls 49, 50 whereupon the reinforced rubber sheet is applied to the top surface of the glass fiber boards. Facing sheet 51 may be sprayed with a solvent solution of rubber or the like by the use of a nozzle 52 or a plurality of such nozzles. The boards remain spaced apart and adhere to the facing sheet as they advance through slitter 53. Chopper 54 is synchronized with conveyor 55 in such a manner that the facing sheet is cut at the advanced edge of each of the boards. Facing sheet 51 is sufiiciently wider than the glass fiber boards so that a flap is formed at each side of the advancing boards, see FIGURE 8. After slitting and then chopping with chopper 54, the final boards have a flap at two adjacent sides, see FIGURE 8.

In FIGURES 8, 9 and boards having two flaps are shown. FIGURE 9 shows an installation of these boards on a storage tank. Boards 56, 56 are arranged so that the flaps are at the bottom and at the right-hand side of the board when it is installed. The lower flap of each board overlaps the board in the next lower course as shown. The right-hand flap of each board overlaps the adjacent board to cover the vertical abutting edges. These flaps are sealed to the surface sheet of the adjoining board by spraying or wiping the under edge of the flap with a solvent such as gasoline or a suitable cleaning fluid and then the flap is pressed tightly against the adjacent board to establish a water-tight seal. The boards may be secured to the tank by any suitable adhesive or retaining bands can be wrapped about the outer side of the boards after they are put into position. All flashing and seam covers are applied with a suitable adhesive such as polyisobutylene in hexane or other suitable solvent. The cover of FIGURE 9 provides heat insulation and at the same time provides a perfectly water-tight, Weatherproof shell about the storage tank.

In the roof installation shown in FIGURE 10 the boards are laid side-by-side with the flap of each board overlapping the rubber surface of the adjoining board. Boards 57, 57 are provided with flaps at two adjacent sides (bottom and right-hand sides) of the board so that when the boards are assembled as shown, all seams and abutting edges are covered with at least one flap of the rubber-faced glass fabric. The roofing boards may be applied directly over a surface having a fresh coating of asphalt or other suitable weatherproofing material.

The rubber used for surfacing the glass fiber boards is preferably polyisobutylene. When using such an elastomer, suitable color pigments can be mixed into the rubber to provide the decorative effect desired in the final installation. Such pigments are well known in the art and readily obtainable. A flameproofing pigment such as aluminum flake, antimony oxide, or others can be rolled into the surface of the sheet during calendering so as to be available for extinguishing surface flame before the elastomeric sheet itself is damaged. The elastomer can also be embossed to provide further decorative effects if this is desired. Such embossing in addition to providing decorative effects will help tie the elastomer to the glass reinforcement although even without embossing it is impossible to remove the elastomer sheet from the reinforcing fabric. Although other elastomers can be used, polyisobutylene is especially suited since it has excellent weathering characteristics and is not prohibitively expensive.

The fibrous board, bat or base member may comprise other fibers than glass, but glass is especially suited for a weatherproofing product. The fibers of the base member may be bonded with phenol-formaldehyde, urea formaldehyde, melamine formaldehyde, gypsum, magnesium oxy-sulfate, Portland cement or any other suitable binder or mixture of these. The bat or board, in addition to being bonded, may be partly or totally saturated with rubber or asphalt or mixtures of an elastomer and a resinous material prior to the application of the elastomeric surfacing sheet. The saturant should be compatible with the surfacing sheet to promote adhesion therebetween resulting in an integral product.

Base members having the indicated densities of from about 3 to 12 pounds per cubic foot vary from rather flexible bats to rather rigid boards. Generally boards are preferred; however, although flexible bats are not the full equivalent of boards, it is sometimes adequate to utilize resilient bats of glass fiber such as those formed by the rotary or centrifugal process which are rigid enough to withstand the load imposed upon the roof Without being crushed permanently since the glass fiber reinforced elastomeric coating member will actually support the load while the resilient bat is temporarily depressed.

Other rubber solutions may be used in treating the fabric prior to calendering the elastomer coating thereon. However, when polyisobutylene is to be the weatherproofing member, the glass fabric is preferably treated with butyl rubber in a hexane solution.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in order to illustrate the inventive con cept, the invention is not limited thereto but rather includes all obvious variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Method of producing weatherproof panels comprising advancing spaced-apart, bonded glass fiber boards into a working zone, said boards having a sprayed coating of an elastomer on one major surface thereof, applying a facing sheet of reinforced elastomer to the coated surface of the boards, said sheet of reinforced elastomer being of greater width than said glass fiber boards to form a projecting flap at two sides of said fiber boards, slitting each of the advancing, spaced-apart boards at the center and the sheet of reinforced elastomer to form two side by side boards each of which has one projecting flap of reinforced elastomer at a side of the board, and chopping the sheet of reinforced elastomer at leading edges of each of the advancing, spaced-apart boards to provide a second projecting flap of reinforced elastomer on each of the next preceding boards.

2. Method of producing weatherproof insulating boards comprising advancing a continuous glass fiber board into a working zone, chopping the continuous board into separate boards having the desired length, spacing the separate boards one from another as they are advanced, directing a rubber surfacing sheet onto the separated boards as they advance in their spaced apart relationship and pressing said rubber surfacing sheet into adhering engagement with the boards to form spaced apart boards having a continuous surfacing sheet adhered thereto, a part of the surfacing sheet being unsupported, and chopping the rubber surfacing sheet at the intermediate forward edge of each of the advancing board to produce a projecting flap of rubber surfacing sheet on the next preceding advancing board.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 985,140 Button Feb. 28, 1911 2,057,167 Sherman Oct. 13, 1936 2,194,958 Szegvari et al. Mar. 26, 1940 2,254,394 Ratley et al. Sept. 2, 1941 2,301,215 Koch Nov. 10, 1942 2,326,723 Fasold et al. Aug. 10, 1943 2,454,283 King Nov. 23, 1948 2,495,636 Hoeltzel et al. Jan. 24, 1950 2,587,685 Bergstein Mar. 4, 1952 2,700,630 Bukey et al. Jan. 25, 1955 2,802,764 Slayter et al. Aug. 13, 1957 2,862,846 Blackford et al Dec. 2, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 617,067 Great Britain Feb. 1, 1949 

1. METHOD OF PRODUCING WEATHERPROOF PANELS COMPRISING ADVANCING SPACED-APART, BONDED GLASS FIBER BOARDS INTO A WORKING ZONE, SAID BOARDS HAVING A SPRAYED COATING OF AN ELASTOMER ON ONE MAJOR SURFACE THEREOF, APPLYING A FACING SHEET OF REINFORCED ELASTOMER TO THE COATED SURFACE OF THE BOARDS, SAID SHEET OF REINFORCED ELASTOMER BEING OF GREATER WIDTH THAN SAID GLASS FIBER BOARDS TO FORM A PROJECTING FLAP AT TWO SIDES OF SAID FIBER BOARDS, SLITTING EACH OF THE ADVANCING, SPACED-APART BOARDS AT THE CENTER AND THE SHEET OF REINFORCED ELASTOMER TO FORM TWO SIDE BY SIDE BOARDS EACH OF WHICH HAS ONE PROJECTING 